A Prayer for Our World

You are a good and generous God. 

We thank You that You love us,

You see us, and 

You care for us.

And we thank You that all people are loved, seen, and cared for by You. 

Lord, we thank You that You love us so much that You actually died for us, and not only for us, but for all people. 

We thank You that through this act of love, You give us hope as You set about reconciling and reconnecting all things to Yourself - broken relationships, broken systems, and this broken world. 

And Lord, it humbles us that You invite us to participate with You in this great work. 

Confession

Lord, we ask for forgiveness for the times we are so focussed on only ourselves, our own families, friends, churches or colleagues that we forget You, our neighbours and our world. 

Forgive us, Lord, when we are so focussed on our own challenges, issues and needs that we forget those of more vulnerable people, both nearby and far away. 

Forgive us, Lord, when we fail to love others as we love ourselves, and when we forget that everyone on Earth bears Your image and is worthy of our love and respect. Forgive us, Lord, when we are poor stewards of Your good creation and place our own conveniences ahead of caring for this earth You have given us. 

Lord, we confess that we are sometimes so overwhelmed by the scale of brokenness, disease, environmental degradation, injustice and inequality in our home countries and in our world that we feel paralysed to do anything about it. 

Supplication 

And so, Lord, we bring before You the needs of our hurting world, and in particular, the current pandemic. 

Lord, as we’re now all too aware, COVID-19 isn’t over until it is over for every single one of us. Lord, You know how each of us have been affected in many different ways during this season. You also know far better than we do the devastating consequences of this pandemic on others both in our home countries and around the world, and particularly those in developing contexts. 

Our hearts break as we see those who are already vulnerable – facing poverty, unjust systems or marginalisation – suffer more during this time. 

All throughout the Bible, You remind us to support and care for those who are struggling, both through prayer and action. 

And so, Lord, we pray for Your presence and intervention in this global pandemic, and particularly in developing countries where it’s estimated that COVID-19 could push 71 million of Your children into extreme poverty and development work back 30 years. 

• Lord, at the most fundamental level, we pray that every one of Your children may live in freedom, safety and security, with access to food, water, shelter, sanitation, clean air, education and healthcare. 
• At this time, we pray for the health of people in the most vulnerable countries, that they may be able to access clean soap and water as the most basic defences against COVID-19. We pray for particular protection and safety for the elderly, those with chronic diseases and other more vulnerable groups. For all who have contracted the virus, we pray for healing.
• For affected families who are facing difficult decisions between earning money to put food on the table or acting in the public’s safety, we pray for policies that recognise their situation and support them financially. 
• For already under-resourced healthcare workers and healthcare systems in these places, we pray that You uphold and protect them. Give healthcare workers wisdom in their assessments, diagnoses and treatments that they may keep patients, themselves and their communities safe. 
• Lord, please also give wisdom to the leaders of all countries, that they may work for the good of their people and work together for the good of all humanity.

Lord, we also pray for Your definitive intervention in current humanitarian crises that are being magnified by COVID-19 - the conflict in Syria, civil war in Yemen, the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan and refugee crisis in Bangladesh, amongst many others. 

We also pray for healing of the fractured relationship between ourselves and the natural world that has led us to this point. Lord, we pray that each of us, our families, our communities, our churches and our leaders at all levels of business and government can understand the current unsustainable trajectory we are on and make bold, brave steps together to protect this planet that sustains us. 

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Lord, we know You have created us to be imitators of Jesus - to love You, to love others, to care for our world, to do good works, to spend ourselves on behalf of the hungry, and to satisfy the needs of the oppressed. We thank You for the incredible examples of people and organisations within the Renew Our World community and the global Church who are seeking to do just this. 

Lord, we come to You overwhelmed by all that we see happening in Your world, but prayerful and open to Your prompting. Please show each of us individually how You would like us to respond, and please guide the Church’s responses to all that is happening, too. 

Lord, we pray that where we are blind to the needs of others, Your Holy Spirit would open our eyes. 

Where we are deaf to the cries of others, let us hear.

And where our hearts are closed to the pain of others, open them, Lord. 

Help us, Your Church, to be a people whose hearts are willing to break for the things that break Yours. 

Help us be willing to sit in uncomfortable places for the sake of others and our world.

Help us be as anxious for the rights of others as we are for our own.

Help us be people who strive to honour and preserve the inherent dignity and wellbeing of every human as one made in Your image.

And help us be people who love all of our neighbours so radically and sacrificially they begin to wonder why. 

Lord, let us love our global neighbours as ourselves, not out of a sense of obligation or guilt, but in reverence for who You’ve created them to be. 

Fill us with Your love, Lord, that it may generously spill over to others and You may be glorified through it all. 

We ask all these things in Jesus’ name, 

Amen.